A group of construction students have completed work on an abandoned Luton hat factory under a revolutionary training scheme backed by celebrity builder Tommy Walsh.

Engineering Real Results, the largest trades training organisation in the UK, has spent months buying up neglected and derelict properties in a multi-million pound move which gives young tradespeople a way round restrictive Government legislation which forces apprentices to beg for unpaid work for decades.

The scheme allows students to comply with Government rules which demand apprentices carry out 100 hours practical training. The rule has forced apprentices onto the streets begging for unpaid work for decades.

Now they can complete their qualifications in weeks rather than years.

Here Tommy talks about what he sees as a revolution in training for the building trade.

A GROUP of construction students have completed work on an abandoned Luton hat factory under a revolutionary training scheme backed by celebrity builder Tommy Walsh.

Engineering Real Results, the largest trades training organisation in the UK, has spent months buying up neglected and derelict properties in various parts of the UK in a multi-million pound move which gives young tradespeople a way round restrictive Government legislation which forces apprentices to beg for unpaid work for decades.

The scheme allows students to comply with Government rules which demand apprentices carry out 100 hours practical training. The rule has forced apprentices onto the streets begging for unpaid work for decades.

Now they can complete their qualifications in weeks rather than years.

Tommy told the crowd at the launch: “We are witnessing the making of history here … an organisation which is actually doing all it can to get people qualified, competent and ultimately into a job which will give them a better life.”

The project included an old hat factory on Collingdon Street, Luton, which has been renovated and is used for student accommodation for the school.

Between 1750 and the year 2000 Luton was the hat boom-town of the UK and was famous for its straw hats and boaters. Some of the most famous hatters, including SG Parker and Vyse, were based in Collingdon Street because of its closeness to Victorian road and rail systems.

Many houses made into hat factories have two large rooms built on at the back. In the ground floor room heavy work like blocking and stiffening was done. The room above was used for sewing the hats. These were still being built as late as the early 1900s. Children and adults sweated in the factories for 12 hours a day earning as little as three shillings a week.

The town was still producing as many as 70 million hats a year in the 1930s

Dr Jan Telensky, the financial angel behind the scheme said: “Life was hard in Victorian times in Luton but the hat industry really put the town on the map, there were plenty of raw materials for plaiting and the new Midlands Railway in the mid-19th century was a boon.

“I came to Luton in the late Sixties and I remember the wonder I felt at this grand old town with its dark imposing buildings, I was also fascinated by the number of terraced houses with these large rooms almost hidden at the back, that’s when I discovered the history of hat-making here.”

Ground Force star Tommy said: “The Government’s commitment to building hundreds of thousands of homes is threatened by skill shortages.Britain has plenty of young people ready to build a new life for their families by learning a trade but they come up against a brick wall when it comes to completing their skills-set – they need practical experience to prove they can do the job and they find it very difficult to get.”

Dr Telensky said there have been thousands of new construction jobs this year as builders attempt to meet Government targets – but apprentices who spent years learning to become plumbers, gas fitters, bricklayers and electrician have been missing out because of the legislation.

He said: “Our own students were losing out. This new scheme, New Vocational Quickstart, involves renovating properties across the country and enables them to get there NVQ in just weeks instead of years.”

The company has also been buying properties in Watford, Cardiff, Southampton, Featherstone in Yorkshire, Livingstone, West Lothian, Cardiff, Basildon and Wolverhampton.

Mike Head, a spokesman for Brighter Homes, part of the Engineering Real Results organisation, set up to supply practical training for students, said: “We are committed to getting students into work and if we can help them get onto the housing ladder too that would be brilliant.”

And work was completed on the first of the properties, the controversial Grange Hotel on the Great Northern Road, Dunstable, as students set about the first stage of turning the gloomy old late Victorian coaching house into six affordable flats for young people.

For more than a decade people living near the Grange which had fallen into a near derelict state since it finally closing its doors in 2000 have been complaining but now it is welcomed as major improvement to the bustling Gt North Road.

Paul Senior, chairman of the National Federation of Builders, also backed the scheme, saying: “Anything to provide training and experience to young construction students is a very good thing. The industry is very dependent on up-to-date skills and experience and we welcome innovative solutions such as Engineering Real Results.”

A redundant scientist is earning ‘top’ money in the plumbing industry after taking a training course with top trades’ school ATL, the Daily Mirror has revealed.

Leading trade skills provider ATL made news across the country today after laboratory scientist Steve Banks hung up his test tubes and went looking for a way to turn his life round.

And Steve, aged 43, who has two sons, Mathew and Daniel, as well as a three-year old girl Ruby and lives with his wife, Naomi, said he wished he had taken the plunge years ago.

Steve told the Daily Mirror: “I started looking around for courses I could do in my own time while carrying on working and asking people for recommendations and found that ATL had a very good reputation.”

When Steve was made redundant in 2009, he had almost completed his plumbing course and was about to set up his own business… Now he earns about £45,000 a year, much more than in his previous job.

Steve said: “It was great really, I got so much confidence from the course that my business grew through word of mouth.”

Altogether, Steve from Letchworth, Herts, spent about £6,500 from his redundancy money on his training. “This was a lifetime investment for me and it is paying off.”

Steve says that he is a very practical person who always enjoys doing things with his hands. He used to help his father who was working in the building trades before he retired.

Like every new thing, Steve admits that his business was slow to start with, but soon people began to ring him, saying that a friend had recommended his services. Now he is thinking of employing extra people to help him.

A new leak detection system which will enable plumbers to accurately identify damaged water pipes has been developed by engineers at the University of Sheffield.

The ground-breaking invention in the plumbing industry is set to significantly improve leak detection, reduce wasted water supply and help plumbers save both, time and money in carrying out repairs.

The new pipes testing system works by transmitting pressure waves along them and sends back a signal if it passes any leaks or cracks in the pipes’ surface. The strength of that signal can then be analysed to determine the location and the size of the leak.

According to the Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT) as much as 40 per cent of water supply is being lost through leaky pipes each year. The invention has been developed in partnership with the University’s Department of Civil Structural Engineering (DCSE) and Yorkshire Water

The device has now been trialled at Yorkshire Water’s field operators training site in Bradford and results show that it offers a reliable and accurate method of leak testing. Leaks in cast iron pipes were located accurately to within one metre, while leaks in plastic pipes were located even more precisely, to within 20cm, the University said in a statement today.

Commenting on the invention, Dr James Shucksmith, who led the trial at the DCSE, said: “We are very excited by the results we’ve achieved so far: we are able to identify the location of leaks much more accurately and rapidly than existing systems are able to, meaning water companies will be able to save both time and money in carrying out repairs.”

Dr Shucksmith explained that the system has already delivered very promising results at Yorkshire Water and that they look forward to find an industrial partner to develop the device to the point where it can be manufactured commercially.

What is your reaction to the leak detention system that will help plumbers identify pipe leaks quicker and more accurately? Share your thoughts about the environmental effects of the new invention by commentinghere or raising your voice on our Facebook and Twitter page.

“Investment in Infrastructure Projects is Crucial for Economic Growth”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has unveiled a new UK Guarantees scheme to accelerate major infrastructure projects and create new jobs in the building engineering industry.

The new loan guarantees scheme will enable private sectors investors to benefit from more funding for big building projects which will generate jobs and help economic growth, the UK’s Economics and Finance Ministry said.

It follows two other significant announcements from last week in which the government committed a £9 billion investment package to improve railway networks across England and Wales; and Funding for Lending Scheme which will enable businesses across Britain to access more and cheaper loans.

The UK Guarantees scheme will kick start £40 billion worth of infrastructure projects which will pave the way for more employment opportunities in the trades. The first guarantees are expected to be awarded this autumn.

Under the scheme, the Government will ensure that where major infrastructure projects are struggling to access private finance because of adverse credit conditions, these projects can go ahead.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, who made the announcement with the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week, said:

“The measures we’re announcing today will help work get started on many important infrastructure projects and help our major exporters, providing lasting benefits for thousands of people and a significant boost to the economy.”

Chancellor George Osborne commented that the Government’s credentials with the International Monetary Fund, and other similar organisations, have helped millions of British families and businesses to keep down the cost of borrowing.

Mr Osborne added: “Now ‘UK Guarantees’ will use that hard-won fiscal credibility to provide public guarantees of up to £50bn of private investment in infrastructure and exports.”

What is your reaction to the UK Guarantees scheme which will accelerate the building of major infrastructure projects?Let us know what you think by commenting here or raising your voice on our Facebook and Twitter page.

Game technologies and new innovative learning methods can help students actively engage in the building trades just the way they would normally do in the real world. The research found that each student’s skills and confidence will increase once their fear of failure has been appropriately addressed.

In addition to increasing students’ achievements, the overall aim of any virtual reality programme is to make things more accessible and reduce training costs, Head of Research at Towards Maturity, Dr Genny Dixon has found.

The research shows that the time spent on training could be reduced by 30%, resulting in significantly lower costs for students. Read the full details of the research below: